According to the divine revelation in the New Testament, Christ is both the Head of the Body corporately (the church), and individually the Head of all the believers; He is the Head directly of every one of us, and we all are under His unique authority.
This is something that we all need to realize and live according to in our Christian life and church life. In this whole universe, only God is and has authority, and all other authorities are deputy authority, people who are designated by God to express His authority.
When we touch God, we touch authority; on one hand, we believers in Christ can enjoy God in Christ as our life in the spirit, but on the other hand, whenever we touch God, we touch authority.
No one needs to teach us that God is authority and has authority; once we touch God, we inwardly know that He has authority.
The Lord Jesus was the first and only man who fully submitted to God’s authority.
Even though He was God Himself, the second of the Godhead, He didn’t take this as being something to be grasped and held onto but rather, He denied Himself, He humbled Himself, and He was obedient to God even unto death.
Christ was obedient to God, respected God, and feared God; no one ever feared God and respected God as much as the Lord Jesus did.
He was under God’s authority to such an extent that a Roman centurion saw this and simply asked Him to say a word, for He as a man under authority has authority over the sickness of his son. Wow!
Because Jesus was a man under authority, He represented God with His authority; at the same time, however, He submitted Himself to the deputy authority that God set over Him.
So when He was caught and bound and taken to the leaders of the people, He did not rebel neither did He try to escape; rather, He submitted Himself to them and their decision, and He eventually died on the cross, the death of a criminal. Oh, Lord!
Because He obeyed God to the uttermost, God did not leave Him in the grave; rather, God raised Him from the dead and made Him Lord of all, Head over all things, and Ruler of the Kings of the earth.
Now there is a God-man – a Man who is God, a God who is man – on the throne, ruling over the whole universe!
God’s original purpose was that man would take Him in as life so that man would express and represent Him with His authority; Jesus was that man, and Jesus Christ is now the Spirit in our spirit to take us through the process of making us the same as Christ until we rule and reign with Him in glory! Hallelujah!
He cut the way into glory, and we as believers in Christ follow Him as the Firstborn Son of God to enter into glory through the process of regeneration and transformation so that we may fulfill God’s eternal purpose in creating man!
Christ is the Head of the Church – He has all Authority in the Body and we Honor Him as the Head
In His ascension, Christ was made not only the Head over all and the Ruler of the kings of the earth; He was also made the Head over all things to the church, and He is the Head of the church.
Christ is both the Head corporately of the Body, the church, and individually He is the Head of all the believers (Col. 1:18; 1 Cor. 11:3).
Christ is the Head directly of every one of us, and we all are under His authority. Whether we are new in the Lord or with much experience of Christ, we need to realize that Christ is the unique Head of the Body.
In our natural understanding with our human concept we may think that this or that brother has authority, so he “represents Christ” to the extent that we can go to him instead of going to the Lord so that he would tell us what to do. This is wrong.
We shouldn’t look around seeking someone to tell us what to do and to direct our life; we need to come to Christ, the Head of the Body, to direct us in all things.
For example, our right arm, our hand, our fingers, our shoulders, and all the members act not under the direction of the neck or the heart but of the head; the head commands everything.
The members of our human body don’t take decisions by themselves, they don’t “jump out of the body” to take a break or go places – they are all in harmony under the authority of the head.
Similarly, we as members of the Body of Christ are directly under the headship of Christ.
What does it mean for Christ to be the Head of the Body? It means that He has all the authority in the Body (Rom. 9:21, 24; Matt. 28:18).
He has all authority in heaven and on earth, and He has all authority in the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ cannot move freely; the Body can move only at the direction of the Head.
Each member of the Body of Christ needs to have a personal, intimate, and affectionate life with the Lord, having a direct contact with Him; what He leads them to do, we will carry out with and in the Body.
The authority to direct the Body and all its members rests with the Head, not with any other member in the Body.
It is an ugly thing when someone or a group of saints presume to be the Lord and tell others what to do and where to go.
The headship of Christ doesn’t allow for there to be any other heads or subheads; any other head is an insult to Christ, so in the church, there is only one head – Christ.
If we are “a shoulder” in the Body while someone else is “a little finger”, the Lord is still the Head, and we all receive orders not from other members but from Christ, the Head of the Body.
The authority to direct the Body and all its members rests not with any man but with Christ, the Head of the Body of Christ.
Sadly, however, many things have been done contrary to this principle; when someone comes to us and asks for our advice on whether to do this or that, or what to do in a certain situation, do we direct that one to contact the Lord, or do we give them our best advice based on our experience?
We need to realize that Christ is the Head of the Body and we are members of the Body under the Head; He is the unique authority, and we need to submit to Him.
Whether we are under the authority of the Head determines whether we know the life of the Body (1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 4:15-16; Col. 1:18; 3:4).
The Body of Christ has only one Head and it can submit only to one Head; this Head is Christ.
Only Christ is the unique Head, and we as members must submit to Him; we need to honor and testify to the unique headship of the God-exalted Christ (Eph. 1:22-23; Matt. 23:8-12).
Lord Jesus, You are the Head of the Body, the church, and You are our Head as members of the Body of Christ. Grant us to realize that no one can replace Christ as our Head. Keep us in fellowship with You in the Body. You have all the authority, Lord, and we submit to You. We come to You again and again, and we want to remain in a personal and affectionate relationship with You. Amen, Lord, may we know the life of the Body by being under the authority of the Head. You are the God-exalted Christ, and we honor You and testify to Your headship! Hallelujah, Christ is the Head of the Body, and there is no other head besides Him in the Body of Christ!
We need to Recognize the Authority in the Body and Submit to Christ, the Head, and to the Deputy Authority He has Appointed
In order for us as believers in Christ to live in the Body, we need to recognize the authority in the Body (Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:18; 2:19).
It is possible for us to be in the church life for many years without touching the Body and without knowing the Body.
Those who know the Body discern whether someone sees the Body and knows the Body. It is a sad thing to see middle age saints who have been in the church life for many years but do not know the Body. Oh, Lord!
Concerning the authority in the Body, first and foremost there is the need for the authority of the Head to flow throughout the whole Body (Eph. 5:23-24).
Just as we see in Rev. 22, the authority is flowing from the throne (Christ Himself) through the Body, and there’s a wonderful inner sense that we are in this flow.
And when we open up to the Lord and to the saints in fellowship, we feel that the Lord’s authority is properly represented, and we feel that we’re in a river flowing.
Christ is the Head of the Body, and when we submit directly to the Head, we also care for the Body.
However, it is impossible for us to say that we are submitting to the authority of the Head yet we do not care for the Body; these two are inter-related.
The Body is the standard; just as our human body knows through its senses and organs and functions, so the Body of Christ knows.
And if someone doesn’t care for the Body of Christ, he is not under the headship of Christ.
It doesn’t matter how long we have been a believer, what kind of great work we do for the Lord, etc, as long as we don’t care for the Body, we don’t take Christ as the Head.
Only the Lord is our Head, and only He has the authority to direct the moves of the members of His Body.
He may direct certain ones to move to a particular city for His interest there, and when they cooperate with Him, they get the blessing.
It is an ugly matter, however, for some to presume that they know what God wants others to do, so they tell them to move here or there or to do this or that. Oh, Lord!
No one can come to you and say, Pack up your things, the Lord is sending you to this or that locality; this is a gross insult to the headship of Christ.
Every move of the Body is directed by the Head and is carried out in the fellowship of the Body, with the support and covering of the Body. In the Body of Christ, the elders and the apostles are deputy authorities, carrying out the authority of the Head (Acts 14:23; 1 Tim. 5:17; 1 Cor. 12:28).
They have no authority in themselves, but they carry out and flow out God’s authority.
The Lord has to have a way to carry out His authority through those whom He has chosen and appointed.
On one hand, all the members of the Body submit directly to the Head (Eph. 5:24); on the other hand, the members submit to the deputies of the Head (Heb. 13:17).
We can submit to others in the Body because we sense the flow of the authority of Christ, the Head of the Body, through that person.
We don’t just follow a person blindly, neither do we consider someone as higher than others; we follow the Lord as He speaks to us directly, and we follow His leading in the Body and through the Body, even as His authority flows through the members of the Body.
For example, when Paul was saved, he wasn’t told what to do and how to call on the Lord; rather, the Lord sent a little member of the Body, Ananias, to him and this one led Paul to baptism by calling on the name of the Lord.
Our gender doesn’t determine what kind of member we are; we are not even aware of it, but we sense it from the Lord that His authority flows through someone, and the Lord leads us through the Body.
Lord Jesus, we want to live in the Body of Christ by recognizing the authority of the Head. We acknowledge that only Christ is the Head of the Body, and we are the Body of Christ. May the authority of the Head flow through the whole Body. We submit ourselves to You, Lord Jesus, for You are our Head; we also care for the Body, for the saints are Your Body. Grant us to have a vision of the headship of Christ. May we realize that we are in the Body and may we care for the Body. Amen, Lord, we follow Your leading and we open to fellowship with the fellow members in the Body under Your authority flowing among us. Amen, Lord, lead us by Your presence personally and in the fellowship of the Body!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Crucial Principles for the Christian Life and the Church Life, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Vital Factors for the Lord’s Recovery of the Church Life (2021 ITERO), week 4, The Factor of Authority in the Body of Christ and in the Local Churches.
- Hymns on this topic:
– To the throne Christ has ascended, / Far above all rule and power; / God has made Him Head o’er all things / To the Church, His Body here. / All in all He ever filleth, / And His fulness is expressed / Through the Church, which is His Body / And His image manifests. (Hymns #823)
– Lord, to know Thee as the Body, / Is my desperate need today, / Oh, to see Thee in Thy members, / ’Tis for this I long and pray. / No more just to know Thy headship / In an individual way, / But to see Thee incarnated, / As the Body-Christ, I pray. (Hymns #1225)
– Thru the Church which is His Body / Christ as Head will sum up all; / All will fitly join together, / All things either great or small. / Under Christ, by His full headship, / All in union will subsist; / In the light the Church expresses / All in oneness will exist. (Hymns #981)
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